A Second Chance
by herooftheinquisition
Summary: Nessie is ready to take the next step with Jacob, and she's convinced Jacob feels the same. But what happens when Jacob turns her down, then her family reveal it's time to leave Forks? How can Jake give up his responsibilities to follow a girl, who's not even talking to him, across the country? Can Jacob and Nessie find their way back to each other, or is too late?
1. Chapter 1

Come on Ness, just do it. Quick and painless, like ripping off a Band-Aid. Actually that sounds quite painful. Not that I've ever worn a Band-Aid. But the last thing I want is for this to be painful. The exact opposite actually. There's not many moments in life that you can look at and think, that's it, that's the moment that everything changed. But this is. This could be the biggest, life changing moment of my life. And I'm stalling.

"Come on Nessie, you ready yet?" I hear Jacob call from the living room, a hint of impatience in his voice. To be fair I have been making him wait for nearly half an hour now while I changed my outfit about 5 times. But hey, I want this moment to be perfect. Tonight I would finally tell my best friend that I was in love with him.

Jacob's been in my life since I was born, he risked everything to protect me when I was under threat from the Volturi. He was willing to give up everything he knew and loved to keep me safe. He's more than my best friend; he's my soul mate. Over the last 7 years I've seen him grow up and mature with me until I've finally reached 'maturity' and stopped growing. I now look and act around 18 despite only having been alive for 7 years. Jake's always been there for me, first as a big brother, then as a best friend, and hopefully now as a boyfriend. In the last 7 years I've never seen him with another girl. Sometimes I wonder if he's ever had a first kiss. I kind of hope he hasn't, that way we can be each other's first and only. I've always secretly hoped he's been saving himself for me.

"Nessie!" Jacob's voice shocks me from my thoughts. Time to stop procrastinating and get started with the next chapter of my life. I took one last look in the mirror; my hair was naturally curly thanks to my grandpa Charlie and a bronze tone thanks to my father. The effect was kind of amazing. I love my hair. I pulled my nearly too tight blue shirt down a little, showing an almost daring amount of cleavage. The top looked amazing matched with my dark denim mini skirt and blue wedges. I was going for a mature, girl next door look, showing off my best assets (legs and chest) to remind Jacob I'm not a little girl anymore. This was reiterated through my makeup. Normally I keep it light, being too lazy to do anything fancy. But tonight I was prepared. I spent my whole morning watching YouTube tutorials and have now perfected the sexy smoky eye look. Jacob won't know what's hit him.

I make my way out towards Jacob. My parents are in the middle of a holiday to a private island so I have the cottage to myself for the rest of the week. A week I'm hoping will be spent with Jacob and I getting to know each other in a completely different way.

I imagined dramatic, sexy music playing as I walked out of my bedroom. Jacob looks up from his phone and quickly does a double take. Hello confidence.

"God Nessie are you going to put some pants on?" he practically begs. Goodbye confidence. I raised my eyebrows. Jacob, noticing my expression, quickly adds, "You know, so you don't get cold?"

I laugh, "How can I possibly get cold when I have you?" I take a step closer to Jacob, wrapping my arms around him as if he's my very own heater. "See, now I'm perfect temperature," I smiled innocently up at him.

His arms wrapped around me almost instantly, as if on instinct. "Nah, you're just perfect." He kisses the top of my head before suggesting we should be on our way.

Tonight's plan is the same as every Tuesday night since my 2nd birthday when Jacob realised I'd never seen any Disney films. He considered this a great crime and demanded we have a Disney movie night. Obviously all Disney films can't be watched in one night, so it became a weekly thing. Eventually we graduated from Disney films to other classic films that Jacob insist one must watch, i.e Top Gun, Pulp Fiction, High School Musical. And no I'm not kidding about that last one. Tonight's film was when Harry Met Sally. But first, I want to make a pit stop.

"Hey can we go for a walk?" I ask once I'm in the Rabbit, which surprisingly still works.

"We just got in the car" Jacob replies confused.

"No not here, I meant on the beach. I really want to," I look at him and plead. He smiles and shakes his head,

"Of course we can Nessie."

Okay, this was it. 5 minutes until the beginning of the rest of my life. Deep breathes.

"You okay over there Ness? I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet," I'm pulled out of my thoughts and smile over at him.

"Yeah, I am actually, I'm great." Thinking about how amazing it will be to finally kiss Jacob and call him my boyfriend somehow made the nerves lessen. I was too excited to make room for any other emotion.

"We're here, race you to the shore?" Jacob asks me as he parks. I'm already half way out of the door by the time he's finished asking the question. I run as fast as I can, hoping to get at least half way there before he catches up. Because there is no way I can out run him, he always catches me.

Suddenly two arms are around my waist and I'm being lifted into the air, yet I've never felt safer. "Jacob put me down!" I squeal. "You're cheating!

"I'm cheating? You didn't wait for me to say go!" His hand starts moving towards my stomach and I know he's about to start tickling me.

"Jacob Black don't you dare! Put me down, I call a truce!" I giggle. He pretends to think about it for a moment, his hand stilling.

"Say I'm better and I will." I roll my eyes.

"Jacob you are better," I say as monotone as possible.

"Hmm, that'll do" he says before unceremoniously dropping me on the sand. I land on my butt. I try to glare at him from the sand, but he has the most innocent smile on his face, I can't help but laugh.

"You're lucky I love you, Black" I respond before turning around, still on the ground and face the sea. I tuck my knees up to my chin and wrap my arms around them. The sun was starting to set, making the sky go a burnt orange colour. I love the sunset; I don't think I could ever get bored of watching it. It's a constant in an ever changing world. Sometimes the thought of living forever is daunting, but knowing that the sun I'm watching disappear is the same one that Grandpa Carlisle used to watch in England, and will be the same one I'll sit and watch in 200 years' time makes it a bit easier. Some things never change. It's with this last thought that I turn and look at Jacob who is sitting next to me now, his long legs stretched out in front of him. I know, just like the sun, Jacob is a constant in my life.

"What's going on in that head of yours Cullen?" he asks, noticing my expression. Now or never.

"You know I love you right?" I ask, turning my body to face his.

"Yeah of course, you just told me. Twice actually," he nudges me, looking slightly confused about where I'm taking this conversation.

"You're everything to me Jake, I couldn't imagine my life without you. It hurts when I try."

"You're my everything too Ness, where is all this coming from?" he asks gently, starting to look slightly worried. I reach out and put my hand on top of his that's currently resting on his knee.

"I don't just love you, I'm in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Jacob." I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders, as if this secret that I'd kept for the last few months was finally free. I didn't have to live under the strain of it anymore. That is, until I saw Jake's face.

He moved his hand from under mine to put it on top instead, then squeezed.

"Nessie," he sighed. "I love you, I really do, you mean everything to me,"

"But?" I interrupted, my heart beating out of my chest. Jacob gulped, looking pained.

"But you're only 7".

You know those moments in life where everything changes that I mentioned earlier? Well I was right; this was one of them, just for all of the wrong reasons. I feel like the rug has just been pulled out from under me. I was maybe prepared for Jacob saying he didn't feel the same, or he wasn't ready to act on it because of his commitments to the pack and his dad. But I wasn't prepared for him to throw my biggest insecurity in my face.

I snatched my hand back and cradled it to my chest. "I'm 18" I bit out. Regret instantly flashed on his face.

"Nessie that's not what I meant," he started to reach out to me before seeing my glare and decided against it. I jumped up, too angry to sit still. He soon followed my example, climbing to his feet.

"Not what you meant? What else could you mean by that?" I shout. "You're unbelievable. I am a fully mature adult, which is more than I can say for you!" I lash out.

"Come on Ness, stop it. Just let me explain" Jake tries again. I scoff. "You've only been alive for 7 years, you can't make these kind of decisions."

"The _decision_ to fall in love with you? Love isn't something you choose Jacob, if it was I'd take this one back in a heartbeat" I practically spit at him. I know I don't mean anything I'm saying, but I'm so angry I can't think straight. And the flash of pain on his face makes my broken heart feel slightly better.

"You know what Ness, maybe people would stop treating you like a child if you stopped acting like one," his venomous comment makes me flinch as if he's hit me.

I turn to walk away, his sudden grip on my arm stopping me from taking a step away from him.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean that," he rushes out. I turn and give him my filthiest look. He closes his eyes and seems to take a deep breathe. "Look, we're both upset and saying things we're going to regret. I think we both need to calm down and talk tomorrow morning," he says, an edge of pleading to his voice.

"Don't count on it." I pull my arm away from him.

"Nessie," he pleads,

"Just leave me alone Jake" I say, a crack in the word alone and I know I need to get out of here before the tears start. I start running towards the cottage. It shouldn't take me more than 15 minutes to get there, especially as I kick off my heels just before I reach the trees.

He won't follow me, not tonight. I've asked for space and I know he'll give it to me, at least until tomorrow. Then he'll come round, make some jokes, apologise and try to make things go back to normal. Only thing is, I don't think things will ever be normal again.


	2. Chapter 2

_Knock knock._

"Go away mom" I shout, hugging my wolf teddy closer to me. It was a present from Jake on my 1st birthday. The door slowly opens anyway despite my request. My mom's face appears in the space, her attempt at hiding her pity clearly failing. She walks closer and takes a seat next to me on my bed.

"Jacob called," she announces. I scoff and turn my head. It's been two weeks since that night. Two weeks since the last time I saw Jacob. Ever since then I've been hiding out at the cottage, ignoring every time he tried to make contact. "You have to talk to him eventually Renesmee, he's your best friend," she says gently.

"Was my best friend" I respond, slowly stroking the wolf in my lap. My mom catches me and smiles sadly.

"He doesn't think of you as a seven year old girl," she starts, then holds up her hand to stop me interrupting. "He doesn't Renesmee. He sees you as a young woman who has only had 7 years life experience. And he misses you. After everything the two of you have gone through, don't you owe it to yourself to let him explain his feelings?"

"He doesn't love me mom," I whisper, feeling the tears build behind my eyes. Mom draws me into a hug, the wolf squashed between us.

"Of course he does, he adores you. But he wants you to live a little before you settle down."

"I have lived! I am living. That's just an excuse because he doesn't want to come out and say he doesn't love me like that."

"For the last seven years all you've done is lessons with your dad and grandpa, hung out with Jacob and the wolves and gone shopping with your aunts. I'm not saying that's a bad life to have, I'm just saying Jacob, and me and your father, want you to have more experiences before you and Jacob become more."

"Why can't I have those experiences with Jacob as my boyfriend?" I ask, wiping away an escaped tear.

"Aw sweetie, I wish I could answer that for you" she says as she squeezes me tighter. "I promise you'll understand all of this someday, and then you'll be thanking us".

"That makes no sense Mom," I reply confused. My mom laughs,

"Maybe not. But at least you've stopped crying," she nudges me. "Give him a call, he needs it," she says before giving me one last hug and leaving me alone again.

How am I supposed to have more experiences? What kind of experiences does Jacob want me to have? How can I experience anything when I can't go to school, where – according to the cheesy high school films that Jacob made me sit through – most teenagers find themselves?

I didn't call Jacob that night. I was too tired from trying to work out what experiences I could have left to experience that didn't include a boy. Obviously I hadn't had any of those firsts. I was fully intending on calling him tonight and apologising for my behaviour. The past two weeks spent Jakeless have made me realise that even if I can't have him in the way I want, I'd gladly have him as my best friend for the rest of my life. I'd just have to find a way to bury and ignore my feelings. However, my plans to call were soon sidetracked by my father calling a family meeting.

My family were all gathered in the dining room while we waited for Grandpa to get home from work. My mother and father kept giving each other nervous glances. Finally the sound of Grandpa's car coming up the driveway filled the house. Mom took a seat next to me while my dad moved to stand at the front of the table.

"Are we ready?" my grandpa asks when he walks in. My father just nods at him then gestures for him to join him at his side.

"Okay Renesmee, we need to talk about something" my father starts. I inwardly roll my eyes.

"It's okay dad, I'm going to call him as soon as this meetings over and ask him to come over. I'm out of my mood now, I promise. There was no need for an intervention," I say as I start to stand up.

"As pleased as I am to hear that, that's not what this is about" my dad replies, gesturing for me to return to my seat. I did so slowly, at a loss as to what this meeting could be about. "You know that we need to keep moving, we can never stay in one place for long, it's too dangerous. The only reason we've stayed here so long is so that you could have a stable upbringing surrounded by as many people who love you as possible."

My heart starts beating overtime. I have a horrible feeling about this.

"We have to leave Forks Renesmee," and just like that, I feel my world fall apart.

"I can't leave! What about Jacob?" I demand, once again leaving my chair.

"Jacob who you haven't seen in two weeks? He's more than welcome to come visit, as you are to come back here to see him and the rest of the pack" my dad responds calmly.

"No! I can't leave him! I can move in with him and stay here," I suggest. My father instantly starts shaking his head.

"Definitely not. We move as a family next week. The house has already been bought and decorated. You don't have a choice" he responds forcefully. I feel helpless.

"Then Jacob can move with us! He's part of this family too!" I shout. It's true, I couldn't begin to count the number of times he's just hung round the main house with the rest of the family. He's never missed a celebration, and he has a video game marathon with Emmet at least twice a week. He's as much a part of this family as I am.

"We have already offered Jacob the chance to come with us. Unfortunately, he has responsibilities here he can't abandon. He's the alpha, and alphas can't just leave," my dad explains. What's left of my heart shatters. I love Forks, its home. How can I go from seeing Jacob every day – the past two weeks being an exception – to only seeing him every couple of months? I couldn't. I wouldn't.

"You will," my father says, reading my thoughts. "I know moving is hard but it's not like you're never going to see him again."

"I need to see him," I say, realising how much time I've wasted all ready. If I only have a week left in Forks I want to spend it with Jacob. My mom stands up as if to stop me going,

"Renesmee we should talk about this some more," she starts.

"Let her go Bella," my dad says, understanding that I won't fight him on the move anymore. My mom hesitates for a second then moves out of my way.

It's Billy who answer's the door when I get to the Black residence. Jacob has more than enough saved up to get his own place but he stays at home so he can look after Billy. Billy's face is one of surprise when he sees me,

"Nessie! I wasn't expecting you today," he exclaims. I feel guilt start to rise up inside me. I can just imagine how hard living with Jacob must have been the last two weeks. And it's not just Jacob that I've missed. Billy is like a third grandpa to me and it's not fair that I've cut him out of my life to.

"Do you hate me?" I ask shyly.

"Of course not! I could never hate you" he says almost angrily. He puts his arms up as if demanding a hug so I happily oblige. "You and Jake will work it out," he says rubbing my back.

"Thanks Billy. Is he in?" I ask, looking down the hall towards his bedroom.

"Yeah, he was asleep last time I checked, he was on patrol till early this morning," Billy replied.

"Mind if I go wake him?"

"Be my guest, Lord knows he won't get up for anyone else." He laughed.

I made my way down towards his bedroom, pausing outside of his door. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous to see him again after two weeks apart with no contact at all. But stalling wouldn't help anything. I push the door open slowly and step inside.

Jacob is lying shirtless on the bed, the sheets covering him from the waist down. He looks so peaceful in his sleep. I sit down next to him on the bed and push his hair back from his face. He looks so much younger than his 25 years when he's like this. Jacob makes a sound, like a soft groan, then opens his eyes.

"I like this dream," he says sleepily, a small smile on his face. I giggle softly and lie down next to him. "Still hate me?" he asks, a hint of nerves in his voice.

"I could never hate you," I say, reusing Billy's words from earlier. Jacob reaches down and pulls the sheet fully over us both. I snuggle a little closer before his arm reaches out and pulls me the rest of the way. I rest my forehead against his. "I'm sorry I acted like a spoilt brat" I say gently. He starts to shake his head.

"You didn't. I handled the situation wrong. You know I love you more than anything, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you."

"I know. Can we just forget it happened?" I ask. Jacob looks uncertain, as if he's about to protest, "Please? I don't want to end it like this."

"Nothing's ending Ness" he promises. I sigh. Of course things are ending. Even if I come back to visit or he comes to visit me, his life here will go on without me, he'll develop a new routine, meet new people, forget about me.

"Dad told me," I start, "about leaving Forks." Jacob pulls me even closer and kisses my head.

"I'm sorry, I would love to come with you but I can't leave La Push," he says apologetically.

"It's okay, I get it. I'll just miss you"

"I'll miss you too Nessie"

We lay in silence for a while longer, both of us just taking comfort from each other's company.

"The pack's planning a going away bonfire for you on Friday. Seth's really bummed about you going, we all are." I love all the wolves like brothers, but Seth and I have a special bond, he's Jacob's beta and more like a big brother to me than anyone else.

"I'm going to miss the pack, yous better not run off and a find another hybrid vamp to replace me," I say jokingly.

"Yeah because there are hundreds of Renesmees just wondering around," he replies sarcastically. I lightly punch him in the shoulder, knowing even if I had punched him with full force it wouldn't have affected him. "Come on Ness, you know there's no one like you. We wouldn't dream of replacing you."

I could only hope that would be true.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nessie come on! By the time you're ready the bonfire will have burnt out!" came Jacob's shout from my bedroom. I was currently standing in front of my mirror in my walk in closet checking over my outfit one last time. Tonight was the leaving party the pack were throwing for me, and my last night in Forks, at least for now. I'd decided on a red bikini, Jacob's favourite colour on me, and a black sarong that stopped just above my knees and tied around my hip. My hair was down and full of its natural volume and curls and I'd gone with a natural make-up look. Tonight wasn't about trying to make Jake fall in love with me. Tonight's look was for me. Because I wanted to look and feel sexy and grown up in a place where I'd felt like the little girl since the day I was born.

I walked out the closet to Seth's wolf whistle, which was soon quietened by Jacob's swift hit to his side. Seth started laughing instead earning an eye role from Jacob.

"I take it I did good?" I asked jokingly as I did a spin.

"You always do good Nessie," Jacob said standing up from the bed and walking over to me, kissing me on top of my head. I felt the blush as it blossomed across my cheeks.

"Thanks," I replied shyly.

"Come on kids, there's a party in need of a single wolf," Seth winked as he also stood up from the bed and made his way out of the cottage.

I could never understand Seth. He, as well as all of the wolves, was an attractive, well-built man with an awesome personality. Yet I'd never seen him stay with one girl longer than a month. He was always moving on, never getting serious with anyone. It made me sad to think he never would. This line of thought made me look over at Jacob in the driving seat next to me. Jacob was by far the most attractive of the wolves. He was dedicated, loyal, funny and kind. Any woman's dream man. Yet I'd never seen him date either. Maybe that was because of me. But not in the way I'd once hoped. He wasn't saving himself for me, he was just too busy babysitting me to find anyone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But then why did he hang around with a bunch of vampires for the last 7 years? I know he was friends with my mom when she was a human. Maybe he originally stayed to stay close to her, and then ended up becoming my best friend as well.

"You excited Nessie?" Seth asked appearing between the two front seats, pulling my from my train of thought.

"Excited for the party? Yes. Excited about leaving? Not even a little bit," I replied.

"Aw come on, I know you'll miss me but starting somewhere new is exciting. And you get to go to school! That's good stuff Nessie. A couple of weeks at your new place and you'll be forgetting all about your wolves," Seth said, trying to make me feel better. He did manage to bring a small smile out of me, if only because of his use of ' _your wolves'_.

"I'll never forget about you boys," I said, turning around to smile at him. Not long after, we arrived at the beach. The party looked like it was already in full swing. I could hear the music from inside the car, and could already see at least 30 people. It looked like the whole pack and their families had shown up. My family chose to stay away tonight, although Jacob could have allowed them into La Push for the night, a lot of the people that lived here were unsure around vampires so they had declined his offer, insisting tonight was about my goodbyes to the pack and that they didn't want that tainted by any awkwardness.

I stepped out of the car to cheers of my name, and red cups rose in my direction. It wasn't quite late enough to light the bonfire yet, so the wolves were hanging around the BBQ instead, none of them being brave enough to give up their place in line to come over and say hi to me.

I walked over to the group of girls trying to catch the last of the sun's rays for the day. It was Emily who saw me coming first, and stood up to pull me into a hug.

"Hi girl!" Emily's loud greeting brought my arrival to the attention of the rest of the girls. Most of them were girlfriends or wives of the wolves, some of them just good friends like Jake and I. But they were all my friends and I'd miss them a lot when I left, even if I didn't spend as much time with them as I did with the boys. "Sure you can't stay here with us? I don't know if I can feed all of the pack without your help!" she joked.

There's normally a big pack meal once a week, and when Sam was still actively phasing Emily always had food ready for any of the wolves if they stopped by. It used to be a big joke that I'd have to move into Jacob's when he became alpha of both packs so that I could take over Emily's role as pack feeder. At the time I loved the idea of helping the wolves in any way I could so I started hanging out in the kitchen with Emily at these pack meals learning how to cook. Jacob swears I'm an even better cook than Emily now but his opinion is biased.

"Sorry, I've tried everything I can to stay here but I have to go," I replied sadly.

"I'm more worried about how depressing Jacob's going to be when you go," Kim said. Kim was Jared's wife. I shook my head as I took the space on her towel she had just made for me when she moved over.

"He'll get over the loss soon enough and find some new girl to replace me,"

My comment was met by a scoff from Leah, who had not moved from her position of lying down, her sunglasses perched over her eyes. Leah was the only female wolf of Jacob's pack, and, much to my dismay, one of Jacob's best friends. It's not that the two of us didn't get on. We got on fine when there was a group of us. But when it was just me and her, she turned on me, looked at me with disgust and almost hatred. I'd never brought it up with Jacob because I didn't want to put him in an awkward situation, but I was pretty sure everyone else was aware of the tension between the two of us.

"Problem Leah?" I asked, portraying a bored tone. I noticed a few of the girls exchange worried looks. Our fights tended to get quite explosive.

"Many. But don't worry vamp, he won't replace you. Even if he wanted to," she said.

"Aw shame, you could have finally made your move, its only been, what, 8 years? Isn't that how long it takes to get out of the friend zone?" Leah let out a bitter laugh.

"You tell me. I know it's not me you're trying to impress with that skimpy outfit."

"I'm going to see how Rachel's doing at the BBQ," Emily interjected, trying to defuse the building tension. "Come say hi with me Nessie," she suggested. Unwilling to spend any longer with Leah I agreed.

"She's really not a horrible person Nessie," Emily tried to insist as we made our way over to where Paul was trying to take over the grilling.

"I know she's not, that's what annoys me the most. It's only to me she acts like a complete bitch,"

"Language Ness!" Jake shouted jokingly as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and lifted me off the ground.

"Ahh put me down Jake!" I screamed, trying to contain my laughter. Instead of putting me down he threw me over his shoulder so I had a lovely view of his bum. And so the rest of the beach had an excellent view of mine. "Come on Jake, I feel like I'm flashing everyone," I laughed.

"As if I would let that happen," he replied, pretending to be offended. It was then that a four year old little boy appeared in my line of sight, standing just behind Jacob, looking up at me with a toothy grin.

"Aunt Nessie!" he exclaimed.

"Will!" I squeal in excitement. Will is the first child of Rachel and Paul, and Jacob's nephew. When he was born Rachel insisted on making him call me aunt, despite me not technically being one. She claimed I was around Jacob so much I may as well be an aunt to baby Will, especially as he rarely got to see his real aunt, Rebecca, who lived in Hawaii.

Upon hearing my exclamation Jacob turned around, so I was now facing away from my favourite toddler. I huffed in frustration.

"Hey Will! Where you been hiding?" Jacob asked excitedly. I loved watching Jake interact with Will, he was so great with him.

"I was with Leo," he replied. Leo was Emily and Sam's oldest and would be in the same school year as Will. "Why are you carrying Nessie?" he asked innocently.

"Because she used a bad word," Jacob replied seriously. Will wondered around so that he could see me again. He tried to look disappointed but I could see the hint of a smile in his face.

"You shouldn't say bad words aunt Nessie," he said. I heard Jacob struggle not to laugh as the blush appeared on my face.

"I promise I won't say another bad word if mean uncle Jake lets me down," I tried to bargain. Jacob turned again.

"What do you say little man? Think we should forgive her?" Jake asked Will. The small gap of silence made me think they were pretending to think about it.

"Yeah, just this once though," Will giggled. I was soon on the ground again, Jacob having to quickly put his hands on my waist to stop me falling over. And I'm pretty sure he left them there for longer than he needed to.

I turned away from Jake to bend down and hold my arms out for Will. He jumped into them and threw his tiny arms around my neck. "Will you come visit me?" he asked as he stepped away, yet I remained bent down so I was eyelevel.

"As often as I can" I replied, pushing some of his long black hair out of his face. He had once seen an old picture of Jacob with his long hair and had instantly decided he wanted to be just like him. Will's hair was currently just to his neck, but his mom was dying to get it cut to a regular length.

"Nessie!" Rachel called as she made her way over to me, Emily now in charge at the BBQ. She also opened her arms wide and pulled me in for a hug. "Another sister leaving me, I must be cursed," she said teasingly as she stepped back.

"Ah I'll still be here don't worry sis," Jacob said from behind me, his arm landing around my shoulders. Rachel smiled at the movement then was distracted by the toddler pulling at her pants, clearly unhappy with the lack of attention he was receiving.

"Is the food ready yet?" Will whined.

"Just a few more minutes, come on I'll take you to the front of the queue," She gave him a wink then turned to me again, "I'll try and catch up with you later, enjoy your night," she smiled.

And the rest of my night continued in a similar fashion. Wolves and friends came up to me in small groups wishing me well, asking about my new adventure and most frequently, asking if I thought I could handle being away from Jake for so long. Honestly I didn't know how I would cope, he was the brightest part of my day. But I didn't have a choice, so I'd have to learn how to live without him, at least for a little while.

It was getting late now. A lot of the families with small children had said their final goodbyes and called it a night. Seth was sat near the bonfire, making out with some girl I'd never seen before. The rest of the wolves were also relaxing near the bonfire with their significant others. I'd just been to say goodbye to Sam, Emily and their kids who were the last family to leave, when I noticed Jacob standing on his own near the water.

"Hey, party's over there you know," I said when I got closer to him. He just turned his head to smile at me. He looked sad as he held his hand out to me.

"Take a walk with me?" he asked softly. I took his hand in mine and pulled him in the direction of the rocks to the far side of the beach instead of answering verbally.

We walked in silence for a few moments, both of us lost in our own thoughts. It was only when we were behind the rocks, safely hidden from the rest of the party that we stopped. Or Jacob stopped; I kind of just crashed into him.

Instead of saying anything, he tightened his hold on my hand, and pushed some of my curls that had fallen in front of my face behind my ears.

"You're so beautiful Renesmee," he said sweetly, staring into my eyes. I blushed and glanced down at the sand between us. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head up so that I was looking at him again. His head moved forward and all of a sudden I felt my heartrate triple. He was going to kiss me. After everything he'd said, he was going to kiss me.

His lips landed on mine before I was ready. Although, are you ever prepared to kiss the love of your life? He didn't seem to mind that I had no idea what I was doing. Our mouths were closed, one of his hands on my chin, the other holding one of mine. As kisses go it was extremely innocent. But it was perfect. After only a few seconds he pulled away, a small smile on his face.

"What was that?" I said breathily, still in shock.

"I always wanted to be your first kiss," he said simply. "Didn't want some punk to steal it from me,"

"I wanted you to be my first kiss too," I smiled up at him. "Does this mean what I think it means?" I asked hopefully. Jacobs smile started to disappear, as did my hope.

"Nessie you're still leaving tomorrow, and I'm still staying here. It doesn't change anything between us. It just means you know I love you, the same way you love me,"

I nodded my head, fully understanding what he was saying. He didn't want me going off on this new adventure with a serious boyfriend back home. It's much easier to maintain a long distance friendship than it is a relationship, or so I'd imagine. He was just letting me know he'd be there for me when I came home. It made my worries over him replacing me lessen. Despite this, I still felt tears build behind my eyes.

"Don't cry," Jacob pleaded, noticing the wetness.

"I'm just really going to miss you," I cried, as the tears started to fall. I was instantly folded into Jacob's strong arms, his scent surrounding me, making me feel safe and warm all at once. There was no better place in the world than being in Jake's arms.

"I'm going to miss you too Ness, more than you can imagine," he whispered into my hair, squeezing his arms around me. And out of all of the goodbyes I'd made tonight, this was by far the hardest.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi! I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of the reviews and those that have favorited/followed the story. I'm really excited about where I want to take this story so I hope you all stick around to find out!

I also want to apologise for anything that doesn't make sense in the story. I'm from northern England (Newcastle!) so some of the translation from English slang to American might get confusing. Just bear with me please :P


	4. Chapter 4

I have a lot of free time, what with being a hybrid human-vampire that has to hide away from society. To entertain myself during the long stretches Jacob has patrol and my family are busy being coupley, I like to read. I'll read anything from William Shakespeare to 50 shades of grey. So in tough situations, I find myself drawing strength from various quotes in order to make it through. Which is why, as I stood in Jacob's arms for what felt like the last time, I repeated my favourite line from The Book Thief, 'She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did'. Pulling back from Jake, I realised that no matter how much I didn't want to leave him, I had to. It was time to put trust in my family - both vampire and wolf - and believe that this move was for the best.

I took one more step backwards, Jacob's arms falling from my body. Looking up, I saw my own pain and sadness reflected in his face. But with one quick nod, the look changed to one of resignation.

"I love you Nessie, I'll see you soon, I promise," Jacob said reassuringly. I smiled at him and wiped the tears from my face.

"It's time Renesmee," my mom softly called from the car. Everyone else was already on their way to the new house, only my father's car still idled in the drive, waiting for me to get in.

I walked backwards until I felt the car at my back, not willing to let him out of my sight any earlier than I needed to. Jacob reached up to wipe away the few tears that had escaped his eyes.

"I'll call you when I get there," I promised as I opened the door.

"You better," he winked at me. We had already decided not to say goodbye; somehow it just felt too final. So it was with this parting promise that I finally lowered myself into the car and shut the door. Nothing was said until Jacob and the house went out of sight. It was then that I truly gave in to the tears that had been threatening since I woke up. I received sympathetic looks from both parents but I ignored them, not ready to deal with anyone's pity just yet. Instead, I clutched my wolf teddy tight in my arms and cried myself to sleep.

It was only a few hours later when my mom was waking me from a deep sleep.

"We're here baby girl!" She whispered excitedly before getting out of the car at vampire speed. I, a lot slower and less gracefully, extracted myself from the vehicle as well. In front of us was a large four-story house with large windows and what looked like a mainly wooden exterior. It had an almost rustic element to it and the wood reminded me of the houses in La Push. The house itself was surrounded by masses of trees, clearly on the edge of a Forrest.

Inside the house was even more impressive. The front doors opened up into a large foyer with a staircase in the centre. To both sides of us were large archways, the left leading to what looked like a living room, the right into a library. Ignoring both archways for the time being, I continued to walk forward, past the staircase and into a large kitchen area. It was a fully furnished, Eco-modern set up that I knew was only for the benefit of me and the wolves. To the right of the kitchen stood a dining area and to the left looked to be a study of some sort. However, most of my attention was drawn to the outside. The kitchen boasted all glass windows looking out onto a deck and a swimming pool. I raced towards the double doors and pulled them open. The deck had another sitting area connected to a fully functioning bar, again I assumed this was for the benefit of any visitors. The pool was huge and I could already imagine fun filled days chilling out here with Jake and Seth. But what really took my attention was the second house that was just behind the pool. Although the house was a lot smaller than the main one, it still looked to be two stories and big enough to hold at least 4 bedrooms.

"Neighbours?" I asked my father, who had followed my self-guided tour of the house. He smirked and shook his head,

"It's the dog house," he said with a smile in his voice. I turned, shocked, to look at him. When he saw I couldn't speak, he continued, "so they know that they're always welcome." Without much thought, I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed. If I hadn't spent the last few hours crying I know I'd be bawling by now.

"Thanks Daddy," I managed to squeeze out around the lump in my throat. His only response was to hug me tighter.

"Nessie!" My aunt Alice appeared out of nowhere and pulled me out of my father's arms into her own. "Have you seen your room yet? I designed it myself!" She exclaimed proudly. I laughed lightly and shook my head in response. She let out an aggravated sigh and grabbed my hand pulling me into the house, demanding I must see it immediately.

My room was on the top floor. Wooden double doors opened up into a huge room, decorated in varying shades of pinks and reds. A huge king sized bed stood opposite the wall of windows that overlooked the pool. Alice showed me a cool remote that allowed me to black out the windows for when I wanted privacy or darkness. On the wall opposite the door was a collage made up of dozens and dozens of pictures. Upon closer inspection I realised these were all pictures of me growing up and my life in Forks. There were ones with the family and ones with the pack, but mainly ones of me and Jacob.

Realising Alice was still stood at the door, waiting for my reaction, I turned and ran into her arms. "I love it! Thank you so much!" I repeated my thanks to the sound of my aunt's happy laughter.

"You're welcome," she giggled, "Now come on, Esme said she's going to make your favourite meal."

On Monday morning, I woke up early to the smell of pancakes. Rolling over I found my parents stood at the door with big smiles on their faces. They, of course, were already dressed immaculately, looking like they'd just stepped off a magazine cover. As tempted as I was to pull the covers over my head and get more sleep, the allure of the pancakes was too strong and I found myself sitting up, silently stretching my arms out to accept the food. They both walked over and sat on my bed.

"Why are you so excited? Isn't this like your 50th time starting high school?" I asked my father between bites.

"Yes, but it's your first time," he smiled, as if this explained his joyful mood.

"You know, if you want me to have the full human high school experience thing, you should know that most kids don't go to school with their parents," I explained.

"Most kids don't have vampire parents or werewolf best friends," My dad smiled at me, reaching out to ruffle my hair.

"Shapeshifters, actually" I smirked.

"What's the story again?" I asked as I stepped out of the car. I'd ridden in with my parents and Alice, the others coming in a separate car. My mother rolled her eyes at my question.

"You and Edward are siblings, I'm his doting girlfriend and Emmet's little sister. Rosalie and Jasper are cousins and Alice is Esme's nice," my mother replied as she joined me outside of the car, wiping the imaginary dust off my shoulders.

"Yeah I'm not going to remember any of that," I turned to look at the school before us, "only half vampire, remember?"

"Rule number one," my father started as we all began walking towards the school, "don't say the V word."

We were in the office getting our class schedules when I got to experience my first high school cliche; meeting the school golden boy jock. He had dirty blonde hair gelled up into a messy style. If I hadn't had grown up around wolves I would have thought his muscles to be impressive.

"Hi, I'm Mason," he smiled at me and held his hand out. I looked over at my dad, confused. He'd told me that humans tended to avoid us and certainly wouldn't strike up a conversation. It was something to do with them subconsciously knowing how dangerous we were. And the striking good looks of all my family members would intimidate anyone. So this boy, looking directly at me and introducing himself was a massive shock.

"Hi," I said shyly, taking a step forward to shake his hand. I saw my family members swap surprised faces. Mason cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrow as if he was waiting for me to say something. I gave him a confused look in return.

"Can I know your name?" He laughed. I noticed he still hadn't let go of my hand.

"Oh, it's Nessie," I felt myself blush, cursing my human genetics.

"Nessie," he tried the name out, "pretty," he winked, finally dropping my hand. "Can I show you around school?" He offered.

"I'm sure we can figure it out," my dad said as he stood closely behind me. For the first time, Mason's eyes flicked to the rest of my family and I noticed a flicker of fear pass behind his eyes.

"Well then I guess I'll see you around," he smiled, his eyes returning to mine. I smiled back as I followed the rest of my family out of the room.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I made my way to my first class of the day, English, with Rosalie. Dad had given me a worried look before mom dragged him off to their first class. Obviously, they shared all of the same classes. I had a different family member in each class so I wouldn't be alone.

We took seats at the back of the class and I decided to take this opportunity to question my aunt while we waited for the professor to come in.

"Why do you think Mason spoke to me?" I leaned across my desk to get closer to her. Not that she wouldn't have heard me even if I had stood on the other side of the room and whispered it.

"Maybe your human side makes you more approachable," she guessed as she messed with her hair while looking in her pocket mirror. "It's nothing to worry about," she turned my way, giving me her full attention.

"Oh I'm not worried," I smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm more excited, I've never had a human friend before, at least not one that wasn't connected to the pack."

"And it's going to stay that way," Rosalie looked at her sharply. I felt my face drop. "Renesmee we can't be friends with humans," she whispered so no one would overhear.

" _You_ can't be friends with humans," I whispered back angry at her for stamping on my excitement. Luckily I was saved from further conversation by the teacher entering the classroom and starting the lesson.

I had PE just before lunch, this time sharing the class with Alice. We were sat on the bleachers while we waited for the rest of the class to trickle out of the changing rooms.

"Its so wired being stared at all the time," I looked around noticing eyes quickly shifting away from my own when they met. Obviously, seven new students at a high school in such a small town was going to be big news, but they didn't have to be so blatant about their staring.

"It'll stop eventually. Apparently the head cheerleader has been sleeping with the next town over's starting quarterback and everyone's going to find out next week," Alice smiled conspiratorially at me. "Everyone will have moved on from the news of our arrival."

As I was shaking my head at my aunt's obsession for gossip, I noticed Mason walking in with a group of boys. They all looked to be around his height and build so I assumed they were also football players. He waved at me when he noticed me staring and I smiled back, suddenly realising the error of my ways when the now full bleachers broke out into whispers and glares were thrown my way.

"Oh," my aunt said, turning to face me, "turns out you are still gossip next week," she shrugged looking apologetic.

Mason said something to his friends before walking over and taking a seat next to me. "Hey, Nessie, how's your first day going?" He was so nice, I didn't see any reason why I couldn't be nice back. It wasn't like I had to work extra hard to hide what I really was; my skin wasn't pale, I didn't sparkle in the sun and I could eat real food.

"It's okay, the classes are a little overwhelming," I lied, not wanting to show off the fact that I could probably pass the classes in my sleep.

"Ah you'll get used to them," he leaned back. "Gym's the worst but I've got your back," he nudged her shoulder with his, winking at her when she met his eyes.

"Alright, kids. Dodgeball today, time to pick teams. Wilson and Green, your captains. Wilson picks first," a middle-aged man said dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He must be the coach. I was surprised when Mason stood up and made his way to stand in front of the bleachers. He shook hands with the other boy standing there, then turned and surveyed his options.

"I'll take Nessie," he smiled over at me, and I felt relieved at not having to experience another cliche of being chosen last. Looking back at Alice I noticed an odd look on her face, but it was gone almost as soon as it came, so I wondered if I'd just imagined it. A few minutes later the teams were picked. Unfortunately, Alice was on the other team.

"Don't worry, just hang back and don't let the balls hit you. I'll protect you," Mason told me as we walked over to our side of the gym. I laughed at his presumptions that I wouldn't be any good at sports.

"I think I'll be okay," I smirked over at him. I'd been told to be careful and not use any of my extra talents, such as my speed and my strength. My aim had been to be average. But I couldn't help showing off to Mason a little as we started.

When the whistle blew I raced forward for a ball and instantly aimed it at the other teams captain getting him out straight away. I sent a smug look to Mason, "how about you just stay in the back and let me take care of you," I mocked him jokingly. He just laughed, thankfully not taking offence at what I was saying. I was glad my earlier nerves seemed to have faded away.

We played three games, our team winning all three. Afterwards, in the locker room, I was in high spirits, not even the subdued attitude of Alice could bring me down. I chose to ignore the small glances she kept shooting me as if she was nervous. It wasn't until we reached the cafeteria that I realized I should have spoken with her and quelled her worries.

My family was already sat at a table, trays full of food that wouldn't be eaten in front of them. I noticed Alice and my father locking eyes and his disinterested expression slowly turned to one of disapproval as his eyes slid over to me. He turned and said something to the table, who were suddenly all giving me disapproving glances as I walked closer.

"What's going on?" I took one of the empty seats opposite my parents.

"I heard you were quite impressive in gym," my father said knowingly. I continued to look at him, confused.

"How did you…" I trailed off, "right, the mind reading thing," I said more to myself. As much as it sucked having a father who could read minds, I didn't see why he was making such a big deal over my gym class.

"I'm making a big deal out of it because it is a big deal," my father read my mind and reprimanded me harshly.

"It has the potential to be a big deal," my mother interjected in a gentler tone, always the peacekeeper between my father and me.

"Why?" I asked loudly, genuinely confused at their apparent anger. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the rest of the family averting their eyes from the three of us, obviously uncomfortable.

"We warned you not to do anything that would draw attention to yourself," my father leaned towards me, his voice quiet but serious. "And on the first day you're already using superhuman traits," his eyes flashed with frustration.

"There was nothing 'superhuman' going on," I raised my hands in air quotes to imply the ridiculousness of what he was saying. "I was more slightly above average," I decided as I reached for the slice of pizza on Emmet's plate.

"No," my father began, speaking sharper than before, clearly not happy with my flippant attitude, "you were showing off, trying to impress that human," he looked like he'd tasted something sour.

"I was not! I said indignantly, slamming my pizza down.

"You were already a feature in his thoughts before your show in gym, now you're all he can think about!" I couldn't help the blush that rose to my cheeks as I tried to bite back a smile.

"Really?" I asked excitedly, forgetting about my own frustration towards him. My father sighed dramatically – obviously for show as he didn't need to breathe – and sat back looking at my mother for help.

"Just promise us you'll stick to being average and be more careful around people who aren't your family," my mother pleaded, feeling sorry for my father.

"Of course," I smiled, picking up my pizza again. They hadn't asked me to not be friends with Mason, just to be more careful around him.

I was in my walk in closet, trying to pick out my outfit for the next day when I heard my cell ring. I practically sprinted into my room to answer it.

"Jacob!" I had to stop myself from jumping up and down in excitement. We'd exchanged a few texts over the weekend but we'd both been too busy to call.

"Hey Ness," he laughed sounding tired. I imagined him lying on his bed, tired after a full day of work at the garage he owned and ran. "How was your first day of school?"

"It was okay," I replied, jumping onto my bed and lying back.

"Just okay? I've been worried about you all day and all I get is okay?" he sounded upset but I could detect the teasing in his tone.

"Sorry," I giggled. "It was good, classes are easy, and I think I might have even made a friend."

"A friend?" he sounded intrigued, but not judgmental like the rest of my family. Even my grandparents had advised against further involvement with Mason.

"Yeah, but my family think he's a bad idea,"

"He?" Jacob suddenly seemed a lot more awake.

"Yeah," I said slowly, confused at his reaction, "He's called Mason, he's the starting quarterback for the high school," I smiled, remembering the brief snippets of information we'd shared during dodgeball.

"You know I think your family might be right," Jacob said quickly, a hint of something else in his tone. Nerves, maybe?

"But he's really nice!" I defended, "and I'm more human than the rest of them, I can be friends with him without putting anyone in danger." I couldn't believe Jacob wasn't on my side on this.

"He's human. You're not."

"You're a wolf, I'm not," I countered, sitting up in bed. Jacob let out a frustrated noise.

"That's different. You can't be friends with a human. You know the Volturi keep close tabs on you and your family. They aren't going to be happy at another human getting close to you," he reasoned. I knew he was right, but a large part of me wanted him to be wrong, and that same part was angry at him for not supporting me. All I wanted was a friend outside of my family. For the first time, I wish I was a normal human, who could go to school and make friends and fall in love and have the other guy love her back. Have the guy want to be with me and not worry about the morals of it.

The annoyance over his disapproval of Mason quickly turned to resentment. He seemed fine with me making a friend when he thought it was a girl, but now he had a problem with me getting to close to a boy? It wasn't like I liked Mason in that way, I just liked him as a friend. But Jacob had to realize that he wasn't the only guy out there.

So what if he kissed me before I left? We haven't mentioned it since, and I still don't know how he actually feels about me. _It just means I love you, the same way you love me,_ that's what he'd said. But he couldn't have meant it. If he loved me with the same vigour that I loved him, then he would be here. Or at the very least he would be my boyfriend. I couldn't stand the thought of him being back in La Push at the mercy of every beautiful, single, human woman. They would be a better match for him than me; a hybrid of a human and his natural enemy.

"Why can't you just be happy for me? You were happy when it was a girl," I heard the whining in my own voice and winced, feeling like the seven-year-old he accused me of being.

"It's not about their gender, I'm just looking out for your safety," he said softly.

"If you cared about my safety you would be here to protect me," I said angrily before hanging up. He called me back straight away, but I declined it and turned my phone off.

I knew I was overreacting but I couldn't help the anger coursing through my body. I would have preferred it if he was jealous. But he's just acting like my father, trying to tell me what to do and who I can and can't talk to. I'm a mature adult. I'm not some seven-year-old child. I was old enough to make my own decisions, and my decision is to be friends with Mason.


End file.
